Orange Tart
by Artist Eyes x
Summary: Aruna is a decent hardworking cook who loves to make people happy with her food. She used to be the cook of Disney Castle, but nobodies attack & she is kidnapped by Organization XIII, who might die if they have to eat Roxas' burnt eggs again. AxelxOC
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey, this is my first story. :] I hope you guys like it! Drop a review, so I know if I should continue. :D  
**

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"Aruna, let me tell you something about food," her dad began, slicing an apple and handing her a piece. She swung her feet back and forth lightly against cabinet that she was sitting on, munching quietly on the sweet fruit.

"It's the one thing that connects all of us, no matter who we are or what we do. We all love to eat, and food brings us happiness." he smiled, patting her head affectionately. "That's why papa is a chef. He loves to make people happy with the most delicious of recipes. Mama used to love when I made apple pie. Apples were her favorite."

Aruna looked around the large kitchen until her eyes met the photograph on the counter of her mother, stroking her large belly with a look of intense pride and love on her delicate features. Her father stood behind her mother, his large hand on her small shoulder, grinning. She had never met her mother, and her father often became angry whenever anyone blamed her for her mother's death. She often had heard before from family friends speaking in hushed tones that she had died from "complications during childbirth." Her father always told her it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help feeling very sad about it either way.

"What do you think the King would like for dinner tonight?" her father suddenly questioned aloud, rubbing his chin in a thoughtful manner. Aruna shrugged, snapping her attention back to her father.

"Cheeseburgers?" she grinned. They were her favorite.

"Now, you know almost everyone here is a vegetarian. I'm thinking stuffed peppers and vegetable tart with some baked potatoes. Want to learn how to make them?" he smiled, kneeling down outstretching his arms.

She nodded and jumped down from the cabinet, running into her father's open embrace.


	2. Heart of The Kitchen

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. I know I uploaded the Prologue today, but I added this too, just so people could get a feel for the story. Enjoy, and  
leave a review, please. :D**

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She could never get enough of the kitchen.

It was tough, taking on her father's job as head cook of the castle, but she did it because she enjoyed preparing food, and seeing smiles. She knew she would never be as fantastic as her father, but worked hard in the hopes that she would become pretty darn close one day.

She always remembered that day seven years ago, when she was ten years old, in the same kitchen she was now cooking in, when her father offered her some words of wisdom.

_"Aruna, your cooking skills are definitely improving, I can feel the love in it. There's heart." he said, taking a bite of her rice omelet._

_"Heart?" she asked. He smiled at her and pointed at his chest._

She didn't really understand what he was trying to say, but wanted to be the best, and make him proud.

She had recently done an interview for a magazine, the same one that had published her father many times, and though it was her first interview, she figured it was a step closer to her father's perfection in the kitchen.

She sloshed the pan of salmon around with her hand over the flames of the stove, adding some white wine for flavor. Fire flew up in reaction to the alcohol, and Aruna couldn't help but grin. She had always thought the flames were kind of pretty when they flew up like that.

She had finished adding some spices and turned off the stove on the salmon's side. It was finished.

She wiped the small beads of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, and began to tend to the pasta in the pot next to the salmon. The pasta was done cooking, so she drained it and put it back in the pot. She added her freshly made tomato sauce, and stirred a few times, before putting the lid on top to preserve it's warmth.

"Okay, two down, two to go." she smiled, heading over to the oven, where she had some cinnamon buns baking.

She pulled out the tray and added some cold sweet icing made from scratch, and put the tray back in. She finished up the garden salad with some of her father's special ranch dressing, and finally sat down on the small stool by the breakfast bar in middle of the large kitchen.

She watched the broomsticks that kept the castle clean go around tiding things up, while taking out the dishes that were to be used for dinner. She closed her eyes and thought of her father, as the warm, delicious smells permeated through the kitchen.

Would he be proud of her if he saw her now? She really hoped he would.

She hated thinking about the day he passed away, but she couldn't help seeing the images behind her eyelids whenever she thought of him. Her hand flew to the scar across her cheek as she remembered the day she lost the most important thing in her life.

_They were black, with small yellow eyes. Their claws were sharp, and they were merciless little demons. She was sixteen when the heartless attacked. They were everywhere in the castle, running up and down the halls, and crawling all over the walls in the audience chamber._

_She didn't know what was going on, and she couldn't find anyone, but these dark things were twitching and dashing around all over the place. She knew she had to find her father, and ran down the hall to get to his room. The shadows grabbed at her, attached themselves to her legs, and scratched with all their might. She fell a few times, but quickly got up and ran to find her father, who was in his room, surrounded by them._

_He was on his knees, being swallowed up by the darkness these things created._

_"PAPA!" she shouted, running over to her father to try and pry these shadows off of him. Some more of them attached themselves to her, but most remained on her father._

A large one threw itself at her, digging a sharp claw into her face, and slashing across, her blood hitting the near wall.

_"Aruna…" he whispered. "Aruna, Aruna…"_

_All he could say was her name over, and over again. She ignored the throbbing pain on her cheek and tried to pull at them, tear them away, but her hands simply passed through their dark figures as more of them appeared and attacked them both._

_Her father began to fade away as his chest began to suddenly emit light, and a large, dark pink and orange heart floated above his head. It flew up, up, up, until it went through the ceiling._

_She watched the figures suddenly stop, and remove themselves from her, crawling up the walls, and plunging through dark portals on the ceiling, following the heart._

_They were gone, and so was her father._

_King Mickey had appeared at the door a few seconds later, finding her on the floor, in a ball, crying where her father had last been._

She heard the alarm on the oven go off, and she was pulled from her thoughts. She quickly got up and put on her oven mitts, pulling the cinnamon buns from oven.

She then placed all the food she prepared onto fancy dishes and covered them.

The brooms began carrying the dishes into the grand dining room. They placed the serving plates onto the large, and nicely set oak table, where everyone would begin to show in about ten minutes.

She headed up to her room, and took off her uniform. After a quick shower, she dried her hair and slipped on a casual heart shape top blue dress with thin shoulder straps that reached a couple inches above her knees, and put on some white ankle socks with her favorite blue converse shoes. She added her favorite necklace, a long silver chain with a key dangling down it that the king had given her for her fourteenth birthday, and some bracelets before heading to the mirror.

She let down her long, chest length wavy light brown hair, and her light chocolate brown eyes peered at her reflection. She was slender all over, including her chest, which she hated. She debated adding some extra padding, but remembered the last time did, how one of them fell out of her dress and landed in the clam chowder.

Content with her appearance, she headed down to dinner.

* * *

"Just what the hell is this?" growled Larxene, squinting her eyes into the charred mess of some kind of meat on her plate. "Please, tell me, because I'm just _dying_ to know, Demyx."

A few of the Organization members were sitting around in the dining room, hungry, and looking to eat some kind of edible substance.

"It's supposed to be orange chicken…" he replied sheepishly, cowering slightly over the glare Larxene was sending him.

"I can't take much more of this disgusting food anymore. None of you can cook at all, and it's pathetic. I'm pretty sure you couldn't even make a bowl of cereal without screwing up somehow." she said, pushing her plate to the side.

"You know, now that you mention it Larxene," began Axel lazily, resting his face in his left hand while flipping through a magazine, "…None of us have ever seen you try your hand at cooking."

Roxas snorted, and Larxene sent him a glare, as a light blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Why would I waste my time cooking for a bunch of idiots like you?" she shot back, crossing her arms and looking away.

"I could try making some eggs, if you want." said Roxas, opening the fridge and looking inside.

"As much as we'd all love your burnt eggs for the eighth night in a row, Roxas, I think I'll probably stick to some cereal." said Axel, teasingly smirking at Roxas, who glared at him.

"Hey! At least I'm trying to cook something." he frowned.

Axel shrugged and drowned out the noise of the arguments of everyone around him, and concentrated on flipping through the magazine he nicked from someone in Hollow Bastian.

His eyes caught an interesting article on the most famous cooks in all the worlds (including some of their recipes), and read on about them.

Included in the top three (in order) were Kenji Tomoe, Salem Wing, and Aruna Ryder. He was slightly surprised to see that the first two were pretty burly and sweaty, but the third was a petite girl with a big smile and a long scar across her cheek, putting forth her easy recipe for a quick and delicious rice omelet.

His eyes went down the page to read the bio under her picture.

_"Aruna Ryder is one of the worlds more renowned chefs. Recently coming up to the top with her easy to make recipes, this cheerful girl is excited to be in her first ever magazine interview. Daughter of Traymin Ryder, once the top chef in all the worlds, she is now the cook for King Mickey and his subjects at Disney Castle. Only seventeen years old, this cooking prodigy is known for her simple dishes that even the biggest rookies in the kitchen can whip up. Her favorite dishes to prepare are sweets that include Apple Pie, Devil's Chocolate Cake, and Red Velvet Cupcakes. Her hobbies besides cooking include sketching, watching fireworks, and designing her own recipes from scratch. Read more on page 82."_

The gears began turning in Axel's mind.

What if they got their own personal chef here?

Xemnas probably wouldn't be too happy about it, since he was pretty strict on keeping the Organization just between it's members.

The thing was, none of them could cook, and buying food in other worlds cost munny, which none of them really had much of. Not to mention that popping up in worlds too often that they didn't belong in certainly made suspicion arise.

He turned his attention back to his fellow members, and watched as Larxene began to strangle Demyx while Roxas tried to pry her off of him.

There definitely needed to be someone here to fix this problem before everyone ended up either killing each other, or eating each other, and as Axel peered down into the picture of Aruna, he had just the idea to solve the problem.


	3. Not Again

**A/N: Woo, chapter three. I'm kinda slow with updating. D: Anyways, thank you to those of you that reviewed. It kinda gives me the motivation to keep writing. :D  


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**

King Mickey sat at the head of the table, with Aruna to his left, and Queen Minnie to his right. Donald and Goofy sat together, joined by Chip and Dale, and the rest of the subjects that were at Disney Castle.

Conversation buzzed about the room, and King Mickey cleared his throat, silencing everyone immediately.

"Now," he began in his musical voice, "once again I'd like to thank all of you for joining us for dinner, and Aruna for making this delicious meal. I'm glad we can all be together here every night, just enjoying each other's company."

Everyone got quiet, and slightly embarrassed. This was Mickey's form of praying in a way, giving good wishes and appreciation. Everyone smiled at each other, and waited for him to finish.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Well, dig in!" he grinned.

The covers were lifted from the serving dishes, and warm smells filled the dining room.

"Oh boy!" cried Goofy, scooping some salmon onto his plate.

"This is delicious!" squawked Donald, taking a bite of some pasta.

She blushed as she bit into her salad. "It's nothing, really."

She couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of herself. King Mickey patted her shoulder.

"No need to be shy, we love your cooking." She smiled. "Thank you, your majesty."

From that point on, warm conversation and laughter filled the room.

Even though Aruna missed her father dearly, as the brooms began to bring in dessert, she couldn't help but feel like she was home. By staying at Disney Castle, the emptiness she felt was being filled little by little. The loneliness had bothered her, since her father's death, that sore and tender spot in her heart where he was gone. She had begun to doubt whether anything could make her feel the same again, but now she was beginning to feel genuinely happy once more. They cared about her here, and she cared about everyone else.

As she clutched the necklace King Mickey had given her, she smiled. She truly was home.

* * *

After dinner, the brooms began to clear and clean up the dining room table.

Everyone got up from their places and either headed back to their rooms, or went to the living room to go relax with their friends.

Aruna felt extremely tired, and even though it was pretty early, decided to call it a night.

She reached her room and closed the door behind her.

She quickly brushed her teeth and tossed herself onto her bed, laying there in complete darkness for a few seconds before closing her eyes, and shortly after drifting into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Axel's long coat brushed the floor as he paced in his room.

He weighed the idea of kidnapping a chef for the Castle.

If he were to go and pick up the girl, he would have to deal with Xemnas, which was never pleasant, even if Xemnas was in a his own version of a good mood.

On the bright side, however, he could eat all his favorite dishes, and wouldn't have to deal with constant nausea from all the cereal he was eating recently.

"Nobodies shouldn't even have to deal with eating in the first place," he sighed.

He heard someone knock on the door, and he opened it.

"Axel," smiled Roxas. "You wanted to talk? What's up?" he walked in and sat on an empty chair.

Axel leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and closed his eyes, pressing the back of his head against the wall.

"Hmm, I think I figured out a way to solve all our hunger problems." he said, tapping a finger against the crook of his elbow.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Really? Let's hear it."

"I nicked a magazine from Hollow Bastian a while ago, and it talked about famous cooks spread throughout the worlds. In the top three, there was a girl who looks pretty easy to kidnap. If we can bring her here, we never have to eat your burnt eggs ever again." he smirked, looking over at Roxas' annoyed face.

"Can you stop openly insulting my cooking?" he glared. "I get it, I'm awful. I'm not so sure about this idea, though." he said, crossing his arms. "Xemnas wouldn't be happy about it at all, and this definitely doesn't help your black sheep reputation."

Axel grinned. "Black sheep. I like that. Anyway, I'm going over there to pick up a chef. She's a tiny thing, what could she possibly do to interfere with the Organization's plans? All she'd be here to do is cook."

Roxas sighed. "I guess you're right. I'm taking a wild stab in the dark here, but you want me to cover for you, don't you?"

Axel smiled. "What're friends for?" His stomach growled and he moaned. "Ugh, that's it, I'm going now."

He decided he'd deal with Xemnas at the next meeting, and as long as Roxas was covering, he'd be okay.

"Be back before you know it. I'm bringing along some dusks." he said, doing a little salute.

He quickly summoned up a dark portal from the ground, and stepped inside it's icy clutches.

Roxas shook his head. "I hope he knows what he's doing..."

* * *

She felt like she was suffocating.

The heat was getting to her, and she tossed and turned in bed.

She heard some strange shuffling noises, and though every fiber in her body wanted her to just ignore it and return to a blissful sleep, she opened her eyes.

She noticed her door was ajar, and she raised an eyebrow.

She quickly got up, and straightened herself out, rubbing her eyes.

Why was the door open?

She got up and closed it, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. When she got out, the strange noises were back, and louder.

She turned the on the light.

There were three of them. They were tall, extremely thin, and white, with zippers for mouths, with a strange symbol on what she figured was their heads. They twitched and swayed their arms around. Their movements were somewhat graceful, but frighteningly so.

She screamed and fell back against the wall, some books falling from the shelf nearby. They approached her slowly, and she quickly threw her door open, running down the stairs and down the hall to get to the King's Quarters.

As she ran, fear permeated through her every cell. The hair on the back of her neck stood, and her heart beat wildly against her ribs.

Were they back? Those creatures that appeared months ago? The ones that…took her father? The Heartless?

But these creatures were different. They seemed…more intelligent. And now they were after her as well?

A million questions ran through her mind.

She peeked over her shoulder, and to her horror, the creatures had doubled in number, and were following her down hallway.

She pushed herself even more, finally reaching the King's door. She threw her arms up against the double doors, banging frantically against them."YOUR MAJESTY!" She shouted. "Help, please! Help!"

Almost immediately, all the lights in the castle began to turn on one by one, running down the hall.

She heard the King's footsteps and backed away from the door, her eyes wide as she turned to see that the white creatures were only a few feet away.

The door's flew open and the King stumbled out, groggy, but alert.

"Aruna, what's wrong?" he asked firmly, looking around until his eyes locked onto the white creatures.

"Nobodies…" he whispered, throwing his arm out, and having his key weapon appear.

"Aruna, alert the castle!" he shouted, "I'll try to fight off as many Nobodies as I can. Go, quickly!"

She hurriedly ran past the King and the Nobodies, knocking on as many people's doors as she could.

Donald and Goofy quickly stumbled out of their rooms, extremely tired.

"Awh, Aruna I was sleepin'…" he slurred, rubbing his tired eyes. Donald whacked him over the head impatiently."Pay attention, stupid!" he squawked. "Aruna, what's wrong?"

"W-White creatures…attacking…King Mickey…help…" she breathed, gasping for air.

They both flinched and cried out in panic, running down to the King's Quarters to help.

Aruna managed to wake everyone in the castle. Some of them went to go fight, and the others went with Queen Minnie to the secret room beneath the King's throne for safety. She spent a lot of her time helping the Queen get everyone else together and to safety.

"Are you coming inside, Aruna?" asked the Queen, worriedly looking over her frightened frame. Everyone was securely in, and the Queen stood outside the entrance, waiting for Aruna to step in, but she wasn't moving from her place.

"I…I want to help." she said shakily. "You're all my family, and I want to help you. I'm not leaving the King."

Queen Minnie looked deep into Aruna's eyes, as if she were calculating something in her mind, and then nodded.

"Yes, please be careful."

Aruna turned and began heading back to the King's Quarters.

* * *

As Aruna ran to the King's Quarters, she really didn't know what she could do. She was weak, had never even fought once in her life, and had absolutely no knowledge of what those creatures were capable of, let alone their weaknesses.

Nobodies.

She could barely understand the concept of Heartless.

She suddenly remembered many years ago, when her father had tried to teach her magic. She was alright with some of it, but she probably had forgotten how to do it by now.

She stopped by a nearby candle, and tried to remember her father's instructions.

_Concentrate all your energy into hand._

_Feel the licks and intense heat of the flames gathering into your fingertip._

_You are fire, and you command it._

"Fira!" she shouted, pointing her finger at the wick of the candle.

Nothing happened.

Her fingertip began to smoke slightly, but other than that, absolutely nothing.

She scowled. What was she supposed to do!? She felt so utterly useless, she wanted to just scream at the top of her lungs. If she were to get back to the King, she'd only be a liability. She wanted to help, but what could she do!?

She decided to continue on, grabbing a sword that was hanging from a sword rack posted up on the wall for decorative purposes. They were the swords given to the King from Master Yen Sid many years ago.

She was positive the King wouldn't mind her taking them, this was an emergency after all. She mentally prepped herself.

_Don't be afraid, Aruna. You can do this, help your family._

Suddenly, a black hole appeared from the floor and she backed up.

What seemed like black flames suddenly shot up from this hole, and a second later, a person wearing a long black coat, with crazy red hair and catlike green eyes appeared. A mischievous smile was planted firmly on his face.

"Well, hello there." he smirked, one hand resting lazily on his hip.

She stood there, her mouth wide open like a fish.

Why were all these weird things appearing out of no where??

She quickly held her sword up in what was an attempt to seem menacing.

"D-Don't come any closer!" she shouted, taking a step back. "You better not hurt anyone here!"

The red-headed man didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"Now, now," he began. "No need to resort to violence. I'm a peaceful kind of guy." he grinned, and his smile seemed to suggest he was anything but. "My name's Axel, got it memorized?"

"I don't care what your name is! Move out of the way!" Aruna growled.

He sighed. "Why is it that not ONE single person can just come along willingly. Does everything have to be such a task?" he asked aloud to himself, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying here!" she shouted. "And you're going to have to leave now!"

"See, that's what you think. You're coming along with me whether you want to or not. My digestive track depends on it." he sighed again, pressing his hand to his stomach, which seemed to grumble on cue.

She lowered her sword slightly. See, now she was just utterly confused.

"Sweet dreams." he said softly.

He suddenly disappeared, and Aruna felt a hard thump against the back of her head. Darkness swallowed her up in an instant, just like it had her father.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading, now click on that little review button, and drop one for me. ;D**


	4. Castle Oblivion

**A/N: Hey, guys. It's been awhile since I updated. :O I've been pretty busy with school. ;; Hope you enjoy the chapter. :]**

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Aruna started to feel the beginning waves of consciousness slowly creep through her.

Her eyelids began to flutter open lightly, and she felt very uncomfortable. Her neck and back hurt, and she felt like some boxers had just used her as a human punching bag. Her head throbbed tenderly with a violent headache, and she quickly closed her eyes again, squinting in pain.

_"What's going on? Has my bed always been this uncomfortable…?"_ she thought, and suddenly vague images began to play out in her mind.

White creatures. Nobodies. King Mickey. The castle. The red-haired man.

_"What a crazy dream,"_ she thought, trying to move slightly. She winced and decided not to budge for a few more seconds.

She heard muffled, angry voices that got louder with each passing second. She heard what she thought was the door to her room open, and she held her breath, trying to be as still as possible.

"You are completely out of line, Axel," growled a voice. "Bringing a girl like her here. She is not of this world, and she is of no use to us."

"I understand your worries, Xemnas, but how are any of us going to be able to operate up to your standards on empty stomachs? None of us are able to hold our own in the kitchen, and we don't have much munny. Having a cook here will make things easier, lessen complaints." said Axel.

"The only complaints I have heard have come from you, Axel." said the other voice, clearly annoyed. "At times you act like such a spoiled child."

"…I am simply trying to make things easier for the Organization." he said, trying to ignore his last comment. "If we keep her here, she can't possibly be a liability. All she would do here is cook, and nothing more. There is nothing that someone like her could possibly do to jeopardize the Organization in anyway. I'll keep a close eye on her, just in case."

The other man was quiet for some time.

"Axel, if anything goes wrong," he said, "I will hold you personally responsible, and trust me, you do not want to face the consequences." The tone the other man held was one of absolute authority, and frightening power.

"Yes, I understand." replied Axel, all business.

"We will inform the others and introduce her at the next meeting."

"Alright."

Aruna heard the door close again moments later, and she felt a terrible panic. The things that happened in her dream…they really did happen, didn't they?

She wasn't at Disney Castle anymore…

The King, the Queen…Donald, Goofy…what happened to them? Were they okay?

She couldn't deal with losing anyone important to her ever again. The pain was just too much to handle. She needed to leave and get home as soon as possible, wherever she was.

She sneakily peeked one eye open slowly, and immediately regretted it, shutting it quickly.

The red-haired man, Axel, was staring at her from across the room.

Her heart thudded against her ribs, and she tried to keep her breathing soft, to give the appearance that she was still unconscious. She heard footsteps approach her, and she held her breath again.

_"Go away, go away, go away…"_ she thought.

"Hey, get up." said Axel. "You're a terrible actress."

Aruna didn't budge.

"You know," he sighed. "You can't pretend to be asleep forever, and I'm not going anywhere. It'd make more sense to just get up now."

Aruna opened her eyes and glared at the man.

"That's what I thought."

She was sitting upright against a white marble wall, her legs outstretched in front of her. The man, Axel, was on one knee about a foot away from her, with an amused smirk plastered on his face.

He stood up, and brushed himself off. "C'mon, stand up." he commanded.

Aruna figured that if she was going to find a way to get out of wherever she was, she was going to have to play along with whatever this man wanted for a while.

She slowly tried to stand up, and she flinched as her headache drummed strongly. Everything felt so sore.

"Oh, that's right," said Axel, looking at her. "That was your first time traveling through a dark sphere." He sighed and reached over to try and help her up, but she slapped his hand away.

"I'm fine." she snapped.

"Suite yourself," he chimed, not affected by her sudden harshness.

She managed to stand up, and got a better look of the room she was in. It was extremely large, with white marble surrounding the entire place. There were marble chairs, a marble coffee table, and some marble statues and vases with white flowers.

_"How much marble can one person have?" _ she thought, rubbing her temples absentmindedly.

"Follow me," said Axel, turning around and walking towards the door.

"Wait," she said, grabbing the sleeve of his coat. He looked down at her small hand, clutching onto him and raised an eyebrow suspiciously, narrowing his catlike eyes slightly.

"What happened to my home? Everyone? Where am I?" she asked, trying to ignore the lump rising in her throat.

"You're at Castle Oblivion," he said, raising his hands to motion around him. "I can't really tell you anything else, right now. You have a job to do here. Everything'll be explained to you at the next meeting, which is probably tomorrow."

He began walking away, and Aruna grabbed his coat again.

"Wait! Wait, just a minute. What do you mean you can't tell me anything else? I think I have a right to know what happened to my home!" she shouted angrily, her head throbbing more than ever with blinding pain.

Axel sighed, looking extremely exasperated. "You're going to be a handful, aren't you? When I left the castle I took the dusks with me, so I'm sure nothing too bad has happened to your home. As for anyone else, I'm not sure. My only job was to pick you up." he replied honestly.

Relief flooded through her. Her home was okay, so her family probably was too…they had to be.

Her tense posture relaxed slightly, and she looked away, trying to keep a poker face.

He rubbed his forehead impatiently. "Now if you're through playing twenty questions, follow me."

He quickly walked out of the room, and Aruna followed silently, lost in thoughts of how to escape.

* * *

As they walked down marble hallway after marble hallway, Aruna's eyes began to hurt.

The white was just so bright…there was too much of it.

"…too much white…" she mumbled.

Axel chuckled. "I know, right? I thought a little red might look nice, but who ever listens to me, anyway? Here's your room," he stopped suddenly, opening one of the white doors that were lined down the hallway.

He stepped in, and Aruna followed.

The room was plain, and of course, all white marble. There was a bed with white sheets, a window, a chair, and a small desk. It was small space, but seemed somewhat comfortable.

"You can rest for now," began Axel. "Because tomorrow you start your job here as head chef."

"Head chef?" gasped Aruna, turning to look at Axel, completely caught off guard. "You mean this isn't some sort of kidnapping thing where you blackmail the King for something? Because this wouldn't be the first time someone's tried to do that to him."

"No, not really. Although that may be why Xemnas didn't rip my head off for bringing you here. He might have something up his sleeve, you can never really tell with him. I personally find it pretty frustrating. For now, your job is simply to cook, so don't think too much about anything else."

Aruna stared blankly at him, trying to take in his words.

"And if I don't cook and try to escape?" she asked seriously, biting her lip lightly.

Axel stepped closer and looked down at her, his eyes narrowing.

"Then I suggest you get some fire proof clothing," he said, summoning his chakrams in a threatening manner.

The red flames burned brightly against the stark white room, spinning along the edges of his weapon gracefully.

Aruna remained silent, but held the staring contest that was going on between them. If she was going to be held here against here will, she could at least win a stupid staring contest.

And she did, just barely. He smirked, and finally turned around, heading out the door.

"Goodnight," he said in a sing-song way, shutting the door lightly behind him.

She glared at the closed door, and then threw herself lightly onto the bed, covering her eyes with the back of her hands.

"What have you gotten yourself into?" she sighed. "I need to get out of here, and fast."

She lay there a few moments as her bad headache came down to a very small throbbing sensation, and she began to feel a bit better. She sat up and pulled the white curtains from the window to get a better view of where she was.

She gasped loudly at the view of the sky.

It was utter darkness, empty and bleak, and when she looked up to find the moon, what she actually saw shocked her.

An enormous heart that seemed close enough to touch, colored like the moon, but with a gaping black, purple, and pink hole in the middle. Her eyes were drawn to it, and she couldn't look away even if she tried.

Something inside her seemed to make her feel as if she could find answers here, even, perhaps, to her father's death.

She spent a very long time looking up at the utterly broken heart shaped moon, before finally crawling underneath her unnaturally white sheets, and falling into an uneasy slumber.

* * *

**A/N: I know this was a bit short, but I'm already working on the next chapter, and it's going to be a long one, so get ready. (: Drop a review for me, please? :3 I'll give you a cookie.**


	5. The Meeting

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in like forever. I went back and fixed some of the mistakes or weird sentences in the past chapters, since I've become a better writer since first writing this story.**

Thanks for all your reviews! I'm going to try to keep up with this story more. I've got some cool things planned for the next few chapters. Keep reviewing! They help me work faster ;D Thank you.

* * *

Aruna eyes slowly opened several hours later, and she could make out the silhouette of two figures peering down at her.

Her eyes quickly flew open, and in a panic she raised herself up and flew back against the wall, heart beating fast, and panting as if she had just run a race.

It was Axel, and a younger, shorter boy with blonde hair and blue eyes standing next to him.

"Well, well," Axel said cheerfully, almost in a mocking tone. "Someone's just the glory of the morning, aren't they?" His eyes scanned and took in her appearance, and he snickered.

Aruna looked down to see that one of her socks had come off during her sleep, her dress was wrinkled and had ridden up on one side, and she had guessed that by Axel chuckling her hair probably formed some kind of bird's nest.

She sighed, and tried to smooth down her hair, to no avail.

"Oh, shush." she said, rubbing her tired eyes and yawning. She felt as if she was having an out of body experience, and she was so disoriented she couldn't even be angry, a small part of her was still in shock that this wasn't a dream, or a terrible nightmare.

"Anyway, this here is my best friend Roxas," said Axel, pointing to the blonde haired boy.

He smiled at her, and it was quite innocent and boyish. She couldn't help but smile back, even if he was a part of this terrible kidnapped scheme.

"Nice to meet you," he said. "I heard you're here to save our hunger problems."

Aruna looked over at Axel and he raised an eyebrow. "Yes," she said, looking at Axel but speaking to Roxas. "I'm here clearly through my own free will."

Axel smirked, and rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a drama queen. It's not that terrible here. Believe it or not, Roxas, our other friend Xion and I are probably the nicest Organization members."

She ignored his comment and yawned, slowly getting off the bed and stretching. "Do you know where I can find a bathroom?"

Axel pointed to a door on the left in her room that she hadn't noticed before, and she nodded gratefully.

"Do what you have to do and meet us out in the hallway. We'll show you around the castle and then take you down to your first Organization styled meeting." said Axel, walking out of the room with Roxas, and closing the door behind him.

Aruna walked into the bathroom and freshened up, taking a shower and brushing her teeth, before putting her uncontrollable hair into a simple pony tail, some stray strands framing her face.

She put on her dress again, and smoothed it out as best as she could before walking out.

"Took you long enough," said Axel with a smirk on his face. "Girls take forever."

Aruna rolled her eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an unbearable personality?"

Roxas snickered and Axel nudged him.

"Hey, let's not get too cocky here. Remember I call the shots," said Axel, pointing to himself, and sticking out his chest.

"Don't be too afraid," said Roxas, smiling. "If you stick with us you'll be okay."

Aruna smiled at Roxas. She could tell that he might just be the only nice person here.

"Thank you," she grinned.

"Anyway, let's get to business. We're going to show you around, show you the areas you can go to and which are off limits, and we're going to eventually introduce you to the rest of the Organization. Well, most of the Organization," said Axel, wincing lightly as he thought of the other less hospitable members.

They walked through countless white marble hallways, and Axel and Roxas showed her some of the nicer parts of the castle, the giant fountain in the courtyard, the member's lobby.

The member's lobby was quite large, with couches facing the giant window that displayed the broken heart in the sky.

"You can hang out here, if you get tired," said Axel. "It's pretty nice if there's no one else here. Some people like to be loud and play their guitar or bitch about everyone else."

Roxas laughed. "You'll know who we're talking about soon, Aruna. You'll get to know everyone over time."

She smiled weakly. That meant she was probably going to be here for a while, didn't it? She was starting to get a little too comfortable with their friendliness. As they toured the rest of the castle, she listened absently, but was truly thinking of ways to escape.

"Now we're at the top floor of the castle," said Axel, taking them around a corner. At the end of the hallway was a door that was slightly ajar.

"This room is off limits. Absolutely no entering, knocking or anything. Pretend it doesn't even exist. That also goes for the meeting room unless you're supposed to attend a meeting, Xemnas' room, or any of the other Organization member's rooms. Some of us might not be so nice if you barge in univited," said Axel as he began to walk back down the stairs, Roxas close behind.

Aruna lingered for a moment, and thought she locked her gaze with a petite blonde girl with piercing blue eyes.

"Aruna!" Axel called. "Trying to escape already? We haven't even shown you the kitchen yet, dammit."

"Oh! Uhm, coming," she called, and scurried back to her kidnappers.

* * *

The kitchen was a complete, and utter, mess.

The dishes were piled up in the sink and stacked around the counter, and there was food that she was sure was rotting scattered around. She was also sure this room was supposed to white like the others, but it was just filthy. There was an unpleasant odor permeating through the room as well.

It had the potential to be a big, and useful work space, but…

"So, what do you think?" said Axel, trying to keep a poker face and not laugh.

Aruna covered her nose with her hands and her eyes began to water.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," came her muffled voice. "Am I supposed to clean all of this up by myself?"

"Well, this is your turf. And now that this is your turf, I can say this; Aruna this is disgusting, why don't you clean up after yourself?" said Axel, thumping her hard on the back and smirking.

He could sense the heat coming off her as anger boiled in her blood and she refused to turn and look at him. Roxas laughed sheepishly as a sweat drop appeared on his forehead. He touched her shoulder comfortingly.

_"This is going to be pretty fun, isn't it?"_ Axel thought, grinning inwardly.

"Let's head to the meeting before we're late. Then we'll take you back to the kitchen and you can take care of everything before you cook dinner." he said, and they led Aruna, who was completely and utterly traumatized on a multitude of levels, out.

* * *

They headed down to the first floor, past the member's lobby, and past a few more hallways and rooms before they came to a pair of marble double doors that stood very tall and menacingly.

"Here we go, hang in there kid. And just keep your answers short and sweet. Xemnas has no patience and I'd rather he not kill you on the first day." Axel said.

Aruna gulped, and Axel pushed the doors open, with Roxas and her behind him.

The blinding white had her wince and cover her eyes, but once she was used to the light, she gasped.

She couldn't even see the ceiling, and when she looked up, all the members were seated about twenty feet above her, in black robes, their hoods pulled up. She looked to the center of the high circle, and there sat who she assumed was Xemnas, their leader. His hood was pulled down.

He had long white hair and tan skin, with gold, cunning, foxlike eyes. Axel brought her to the center of the room, and whispered, "Good luck," before leaving with Roxas to go to their seats.

Aruna tried not to look intimidated as she stood twenty feet below in the center of a room full of people she didn't know.

Xemnas cleared his throat and the members were instantly silenced.

"Welcome all to the meeting. There's a few issues I'd like to address first before getting to the real reason behind this meeting. The first is that we have received news on the Keybearer. He is currently in Hollow Bastion and I'm sending Axel and Demyx to go in and find him. I want you to initiate confrontation and get him to go where we want him next. Make sure you conjure up a lot of heartless."

_"…Heartless?"_ though Aruna, her eyes narrowing. She reached up to touch the scar on her face, her heart pounding fast.

Aruna peered up at Axel who kept a poker face, and he nodded slightly at his directions.

Aruna knew she had to keep focus. Axel wasn't her friend, none of these people were. They were the enemy, and they took her from her home. She needed to get out of here.

"Next, I'm sending Larxene and Roxas to do a patrol of the grounds and keep track of the dusks activity. Marluxia I want you to keep closer watch over Namine, I feel as though she's been trying to get in contact with Sora, and we don't want her to ruin our plan," continued Xemnas.

"As for our guest," he said, and all eyes were suddenly on her. Aruna felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead, and her hands formed fists at her sides.

"It seems that Axel took it into his own hands to bring a cook to the castle, so I guess we have a personal chef. What is your name, girl?"

"Aruna." she said stiffly, staring intensely at him. She was mentally kicking the crap out of this man.

"Aruna is to be the castle cook. She will cook three meals a day for us, I'm assuming whatever it is she feels is best to make, given the ingredients we have and your personal food choice. You are all to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't get into trouble. She is Axel's responsibility, given that he took the _initiative_ to bring her here." he said, looking at Axel.

"As for now, the meeting is adjourned. We will meet tomorrow to discuss further plans, and those of you with jobs to do, get them done immediately."

Most of the members instantly disappeared into dark spheres, while others simply left the room. Roxas and Axel approached her, followed by a third person with their hood pulled up.

"Well, seems like I've got work to do," sighed Axel, scratching the back of his head.

"Same here. You aren't going to be alone, though," said Roxas, smiling at her. "This is our friend, Xion."

The mysterious person pulled their hood down to reveal a girl with short black hair, blue eyes, and a soft smile.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." She extended her hand forward, and Aruna shook it.

"Xion, it seems Aruna's got work to do in the kitchen. Could you take her there and make sure she gets it done?" asked Axel.

Xion nodded. "Leave it to me."

"Bye, Xion, Aruna!" waved Roxas as he left the room. "I'll see you at dinner."

"Bye Xion. Be a _good girl_, Aruna." said Axel as he winked, and touched the back of his finger to the tip of her nose.

She growled as he disappeared through a dark sphere, and Xion giggled.

"He's actually quite the teddy bear once you get to know him." she smiled. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Aruna sighed and followed Xion out of the meeting room.

"I need to get the hell out of here…"


End file.
